


Unconventional

by KoshkaSnow



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Rewritten Support Conversation, Unconventionality is Gaius' specialty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 12:09:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6469528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KoshkaSnow/pseuds/KoshkaSnow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gaius and Robin's support conversations weren't a conventional build up, like most. Chrom's tactician and the thief were anything but conventional. I am Fire Emblem trash. I'm sorry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. C Support

“You all fought bravely today. Another village in Ylisse is safe thanks to your efforts.” Chrom beamed proudly as he addressed the party standing in his tactician’s tent. “And Robin, your ambush was beautifully planned and executed even better.” Robin blinked in acknowledgement but her eyes were clouded and she had tuned her commander out entirely. Vaike clapped her hard on the shoulder, jostling the tactician before he followed the rest of his comrades out of the tent.

Robin sat down on her bedroll, reaching down to pull her heavy Plegian boots off her feet. She barely heard what Chrom was saying as he left her tent, waving him away with her free hand.  The party she had carefully selected to ambush a pack of Risen fought bravely but returned with heavy wounds and some villager casualties. Robin arched her back, wincing as she felt the bruises spreading across her spinal column. She was not one to admit weakness or pain in front of the rest of the army – there was no reason for any of them to fuss over her when she could very well take care of herself.

She unbuttoned her pants, slid her coat off her shoulders, and pulled her thin camisole up over her head. Robin’s jacket had been torn up during the fight, resulting in nasty cuts all over her arms. As she leaned over to dig through her bag for a vulnerary, Robin knocked over a sack of sweets that Lissa bought her at the local marketplace the other day.

“Gods…” she muttered, scoffing at the plastic-wrapped candies rolling across the floor. Her fingers curled around the vulnerary and Robin struggled with the cork stopper all but welded to the opening. There was some shuffling outside her tent but she paid no mind, pulling at the cork with her teeth. The tent flap flew open, as did the vulnerary, and Robin was left with a cork between her teeth and the last healing potion she had soaking into the sand beneath her feet. She let out an anguished groan, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. “You’ve got some fucking impeccable timing, Gaius.”

“Sorry, Bubbles. Thought I heard the screams of some sweets hitting the ground. Looks like I was right,” Gaius chuckled, squatting down to scoop up some of the candy. When he noticed the spilled vulnerary and saw Robin with her head in her hands, he leaned back on his heels. “Uh, is this a bad time, Bubbles?”

“What tipped you off?” she grumbled, lifting her head and covering her scarred body with her arms. Gaius’ eyes widened and he held himself steady, holding the corner of her nightstand. He reached over with a gloved hand to move one of her arms and she swatted at him, turning her head away. The thief stood up suddenly. “I’m gonna go get Twinkles, you look really outta shape.”

Robin whirled around, grabbing Gaius by his cloak and pulling him back with all the strength she had left. “No. No you will not,” she hissed as the thief found himself lying on the sandy floor.

“Fuck, Bubbles!” he grunted, picking himself up and dusting off his pants. “What was that all about?”

“I don’t need Maribelle and Lissa busting into my tent and fussing over me. There are far more needy people that need their powers right now.” Robin winced in pain as she lifted her legs to cross them on the bedroll. Gaius sniffed indignantly, crossing his arms. He set his bag down and began to rifle through it, producing two vulneraries from its depths “Then let me at least help you out. Whaddya say, Bubbles?”

The tactician huffed and turned her back on him as Gaius pulled off his gloves and cloak, discarding them in a pile on her bed. “You know, a busted tactician isn’t particularly helpful in these trying times. You need to let somebody take a look at these wounds.”

“I can take care of myself, thanks.” She froze as she heard Gaius pop the top off one of the vulneraries.

“I can see that, Bubbles,” he muttered, pouring some of the healing liquid onto his hand. He rubbed his palms together and Robin tensed up. He placed his hands on her upper spine and began rubbing the potion into her skin. “Relax. It’s not going to work if you’re all tense like this.” His fingers worked the knots in her shoulders and spread the liquid across the bruises flowering across her back. He had never been so close to the tactician. Sure, they were in the same army and he had her to thank for not being attacked back when Validar tried to invade the Ylissean castle, but he rarely spent one on one time with Robin. When she wasn’t with Chrom, she was training with Frederick. When Frederick was done with her, Robin would spend time with Lissa. And when Lissa was busy, Robin was sitting in her tent with her head in her books, planning their next moves. Gaius’ hands stopped above her brassiere and he _hmph_ ed softly.

However, he would not be so lucky that Robin didn’t notice.

“What?” she muttered.

“The worst of it is under your, uh, underclothes.” Gaius’ face flushed redder than his hair and he scooted back as Robin struggled to contort herself in such a way as to unbutton it. “Bubbles,” he started, but she cried out in pain and clutched her swollen shoulder. Gaius quickly reached for the buttons of her brassiere, making soft shushing noises as he revealed the blue and purple markings beneath the thing fabric. Biting his lip, Gaius focused on the task at hand and opened the second vulnerary.

Robin sat quietly, lip quivering as Gaius’ rough hands swept over her skin. She clutched the front of the brassiere against her chest. The vulnerary had begun to take effect, and a warm sensation began to emanate from her spine. Robin hardly noticed that Gaius had finished – the warmth of his hands was replaced by the warmth of the healing potion. He stood up off the bed, picking up his cloak. Gaius looked at it for a minute before wrapping it tightly around Robin. “Muh! Gaius?” she croaked as he picked up the bundled tactician and tucked her under the blanket.

“It’ll keep the warmth in. You should rest, Bubbles.”

He put his gloves back on, picked up his bag, and turned to leave.

“Gaius?”

“Hm?”

“You want some of that candy?”

The thief’s face lit up with a smile as he picked up a few of the sweets that had fallen out of the bag earlier.

“Gaius?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you.”

Gaius grinned as he walked out of the tent. “Any time, Bubbles.”


	2. B Support

Gaius knew Robin was avoiding him. He didn’t let it show, but he secretly loved the flush of crimson that would spread across her cheeks whenever he caught her eye across the campsite, or how flustered she would get when explaining the next battle and she would stumble over his name. “You seem exhausted, Robin. Maybe you need to take a rest!” Chrom said, placing a hand gently on her shoulder as he stood beside her. “If we’re going to be battling together, you need to take care of yourself.” Chrom smiled at her, trying to make a joke, not noticing her knuckles going white from gripping the table.

“ _Chrom!_ I’m fine. Honestly, you’re worse than Frederick lately.” This earned her a disapproving _harrrrrrumph_ from the Knight but she shot him such a glare that he dared not bring up Frederick’s Fanatical Fitness Hour. Robin buttoned her jacket and rolled up her maps, tucking them under her arm before moving to exit the tent. “I’ll be _resting_ , in case anybody needs me.” She left through the tent flap and made for her own tent.

A rustle in the leaves made her stop in her tracks. She didn’t have her sword or tome on her, and her paranoia shot through the roof. She took a few more steps and the rustling grew louder before she heard a strangled groan. Robin dropped her maps and whirled around, only to see Gaius with his hands balled up in the shirt of one of the Ylissean spies, standing behind a bush.

“The hell are you doing, sneaking around like that? Tch…. You could have been hurt.” Gaius dropped him and leaned against a tree, sticking a lollipop in his mouth. The spy sat on the ground breathing heavily while Robin bent over to pick up her scrolls.

“Are you following me, Gaius?” Robin asked, keeping her gaze trained on the ground.

“I _was_ going to ask you something about tomorrow, but I heard a noise in the bushes. But it’s just one of Blue’s people,” he responded dryly, rolling the lollipop between his teeth. Robin didn’t believe him in the slightest. She knew Gaius had been keeping an eye on her since their last encounter and for that reason she had purposely been pairing him up with other Shepherds and making sure he was as far away from her as possible.

Her bruises from the last time had healed, and she hadn’t been fighting on the frontlines to avoid another incident like the one before. Robin had relied on Chrom to take up her time every day between battles, but even she noticed that he had started to gravitate towards Sumia more and more. In all honesty, she couldn’t pinpoint why she was avoiding Gaius so hard. It’s not like he’d walked in on her naked or anything… But he saw her vulnerable. He knew her big secret – big, bad Robin was not quite so big or bad under her bulky coat. Robin shook her head and tucked her scrolls under her arm. “What are you doing in the bushes?” she asked the spy.

“M’lady…. Emmeryn…. Gangrel will execute her on the morrow.”

Robin paled and grabbed the spy by his arm, dragging him back to Chrom’s tent. Gaius followed behind them, much to her disappointment. Robin threw the tent flap open, only to find Chrom and Sumia breaking apart from their embrace. She flushed a bright red before pushing the Ylissean spy towards him. “I’m… I’m going to go… plan…” she stammered before rushing back out, pushing past Gaius.

As soon as she got to her tent, Robin tossed her belongings in a corner and flopped down on her bedroll, groaning into the blankets. Could she have _been_ more obvious, or more stupid? So much for her fantastic tactic execution. Robin had kept it a secret from everybody, playing up her aloof demeanor, but she had grown fond of the young Lord who had deemed her worthy enough of joining his army. He defended her against Frederick – among other Shepherds – and maybe Robin had read too deep into his actions and misread them as romantic. She sat up and  reached over to dig out a pouch of sweets she saved from their last trip to town.

Almost like clockwork, the second she unwrapped a candy, Gaius burst in through her tent flap. “Don’t you know how to knock?” Robin huffed, popping a candy in her mouth.

“Yes, but I have every reason to believe you summoned me here judging by that open bag of candy in your hand.” He looked at her expectantly and Robin signed, sliding over on the bed to make room for Gaius. He looked at her with a confused expression on his face, but when she patted the space beside her he sat down. She offered the bag of candy to him and he carefully took a sweet out. “You alright, Bubbles? It’s unlike you to indulge me like this. What happened back there in Blue’s tent?”

Ah. She had forgotten Gaius had seen her little outburst.

“I’m fine,” she lied, sucking on the candy.

Gaius smirked and rolled the peppermint ball around in his mouth. “Come on, Bubbles. I can tell a better lie than that. You had the hots for Blue this whole time, and Stumbles came in and swept him up with her Pegasus.”

“So what? He’s a Lord and deserves someone with a name and not some lost amnesiac he found in a field.” Robin hadn’t meant to raise her voice, but the louder she got, the more the tears welled up in her eyes. Gaius popped the candy into his cheek and cautiously put his arm around Robin. When she didn’t pull back, he tightened his grip on her.

“Don’t think like that Bubbles. Besides, Blue doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.” She looked up, but with a final squeeze, Gaius was gone. As she looked around, she realized that her pouch of candy was too.

* * *

 

The battle the next morning went perfectly according to her plans.

Up until they finally defeated Gangrel’s commander.

Emmeryn had climbed out onto the cliff and Phila along with the Pegasus cavalry had flown up to save her, shot down by an army of Risen which had sprouted out of nowhere. With the Fire Emblem at risk, Chrom looked across the battlefield to Robin for help. She herself was heaving from exhaustion, having paired off everybody except herself for the battle.

Sumia was trying to talk sense into Chrom but the Ylissean Lord would not listen to anybody but his tactician. “Robin!” he shouted. “What do we do.”

Robin closed her eyes. If they forfeited the Fire Emblem, Emmeryn would go free, and the war would continue. If they sacrificed Emmeryn, they would only be left to face Gangrel and go back home to Ylisse. “Chrom!” She shouted. She knew there was only one way to go. “Give him the Emblem. Just do it. It is not worth taking Emmeryn’s life.”

Gangrel laughed hysterically. “You would give the lives of your countrymen for their Exalt? I cannot imagine what they would do when they heard. Oh, an uprising perhaps…”

Chrom nodded, removing the Fire Emblem from his armor. Suddenly, a shift above them caught their attention. Emmeryn had begun to step over the edge of the cliff. Sumia shrieked and urged her Pegasus to fly up, but when Robin screamed at her to stand down she looked around. There were Risen archers poised at them and at Emmeryn, waiting for one wrong move before they shot to kill.

Emmeryn took the final step over the edge and fell gracefully, hitting the ground with a solid crunch. The only sounds heard were Lissa’s panicked screams and Chrom’s furious shouts as he ran forward towards his fallen sister. Gangrel appeared not too far from Emmeryn’s body, cackling. Robin’s ears burned. Without thinking, she felt the electricity crackling in her palms as she ran at Gangrel. This wasn’t fair. Emmeryn should not have died like this. She died for them. Robin would not let this happen in vain. The tears streamed hot down her face as the electricity grew stronger.

She didn’t see the Risen archer turn to point his bow at her, and she sure didn’t expect the thudding force of another body propel itself into her, knocking her out of the way of the flaming arrow flying straight for her. She pushed whoever it was off of her as she spat out sand, electricity still shooting off sparks all around her. Her face was streaked with blood and dirt as the tears cut through it. A flash of ginger hair caught her eye as the stranger pulled her back into his embrace.

Robin sobbed loudly into his shoulder as she saw the arrow sticking out of his arm. She pulled away from him, reaching around to unstick the arrow from the thick leather braces around his arms. Throwing it to the side, she threw her arms around him, still sitting in the sand. Gaius sighed into her hair. “You’re so stupid, Bubbles.”

“You were supposed to be on the other side of the castle with Lissa. You’re the stupid one,” she snapped, burying her head into his neck.

“Yeah, and you’d be the next casualty if it weren’t for me. So just stuff it, Bubbles.” Alarmed at his bluntness, Robin leaned back to look at him. He fumbled in his pocket for something and held it out to her. She laughed through her sobs and put the candy he’d stolen from her in her jacket. In the meantime, Gangrel and the Risen had run off, and Robin turned to see Chrom kneeling over Emmeryn’s body. She motioned towards them and Gaius nodded, helping her stand up. She held on to his uninjured arm as they walked over to mourn the fallen Exalt.


	3. A Support

Ylisse had been bustling with excitement over the last two years. Though they had to inter their beloved Exalt, the people gladly welcomed Chrom as their new leader. He, along with his wife Sumia, were the new shining beacons of hope for the Ylissean people. Their wedding celebrations, though officially only lasted a week, pulled through the months. It had been a long time since they had seen a wedding – Emmeryn had chosen not to marry and the Exalt’s parents married long before that. The Shepherd’s had resumed their normal lives – anticipating the day they would be called back into battle, but relishing the peace that came with Gangrel’s death.

Many of the Shepherds themselves had paired off since the war ended, and it was evident during the wedding celebrations that new relationships had begun to blossom. Most notably, Cordelia and Kellam. The red-haired Pegasus rider had long abandoned her unrequited love for Chrom in exchange for the invisible knight, and he was thrilled that she finally saw him.

Robin had been in a sulky mood for quite some time and tried to keep her spirits high by focusing on the latest battle plans. She silently thanked Naga for sending all the drama with the Valmese so she could have something to focus on that wasn’t just how sickeningly _happy_ everybody was. Now that Marth – Lucina – had been outed as Chrom and Sumia’s daughter from the future, the Shepherds had been coming upon many of the other children. Cordelia and Kellam were thrilled with Severa and her fiery personality. Sully and Vaike compared workout strategies with Kjelle, while Laurent and Miriel tried desperately to teach Virion how to study without distraction. Henry watched intently while Olivia and Inigo danced together, and Ricken wrung his hands wondering how he was going to deal with _two_ Manaketes. Tharja and Libra sat together with Panne and Lon’qu while Noire and Yarne skinned the latest prize from their hunt. Maribelle was busy continuing her etiquette lessons with Brady and Gregor, but paused when Lissa brought Owain and Stahl over to chat. Frederick and Cherche were with Gerome in the nearest clearing grooming their mounts.

And Robin was sitting in her tent alone, nose buried in her books. It wasn’t that she was jealous of the new marriages and proposals. All Robin wanted was some kind of connection to tie her to the Shepherds. Her memory was shot and she knew nothing of her past, let alone what kind of a person she was and who she liked. After a couple hours, her candles had died down. She slammed the book shut and reached under the table, grabbing a bottle of ale she’d stashed away for times like these. Robin was about to leave her tent and go sit by the fire when her tent flap swung open.

Like fucking clockwork, Gaius strolled into her tent, tossing a piece of candy at her. “Where ya been, Bubbles? Feels like I haven’t seen you in days. And the battles don’t count. I know you love fighting by my side, but a little conversation wouldn’t hurt every once in a while.” Robin grunted in response. Gaius had been the only person she could fight with without distraction. Everyone else was more focused on whether their spouse or child were alright and she couldn’t have that when she couldn’t watch her own back. Gaius hadn’t shown any interest in anyone and could be easily bribed with a few chocolate bars, so he was her only logical choice.

When Robin didn’t respond further, Gaius flopped onto her bedroll and rolled his ever present lollipop between his teeth. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Listen, I know you have no idea what privacy and personal space means, but this would be a great time for you to learn.”

“Ouch, Bubbles. That stings,” he said in monotone. Robin huffed and pushed him aside to make room for herself. She sat at the edge of the bed, pulling at the hem of her shirt. “Are ya gonna tell me what’s going on with you or do I have to annoy you until you get mad and blow up over it?” A light pink dusted across her cheeks and she turned to look at Gaius.

“Well, if you put it that way…” she mumbled. Gaius sat up, legs dangling off the bed. He looked expectantly at her, twisting the lollipop stick between his fingers. “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I connect with anyone the way Chrom and Sumia did, or Frederick and Cherche. I just feel like I’m drifting and everyone else is moving on but I’m staying put.” She gasped as everything tumbled out in one breath. Gaius stared at her intently with an infuriating smile on his face and Robin frowned at him. “What? I shouldn’t have said anything. Now you’re going to laugh at me.”

Gaius smirked, reaching for Robin’s hand. “You know what your problem Is, Bubbles? The second you start to open up to anybody, you’re ready to run away before they can get too close.” Her eyes darted towards the tent flap. “See, you’re already trying to find a way out of here.” Robin squeaked as his fingers tightened around her hand.

Robin choked as she opened her mouth to speak again. “What do you mean, run away?”

“Well, let’s take Blue. You and Blue were best friends. You fought side by side with him and spent nights in his tent talking and getting to know each other. And suddenly, you’re avoiding him and practically pushing Stumbles into his arms. What happened there?” Robin’s eyes widened. _How_ did he know about all of this? But she couldn’t shake the fact that he was absolutely right. She had given too much of herself to Chrom, and didn’t know how to process it. She backed away from him, and missed out. “That could be you Lucina’s calling mother.” Gaius smirked again and Robin yanked her hand out of his.

“So what am I supposed to do? It’s too late for me, isn’t it?” She went back to toying with the hem of her shirt, mumbling under her breath. Gaius reached back for her hands.

“Look at me, Bubbles.” She turned to look into his eyes. His green irises were bright even in the dim light from her dying candle. Robin cast a quick spell to light another couple candles in the room and illuminated the bed area. “Look at me. We’re gonna play a game.” She looked at him, visibly confused. What kind of a game was supposed to make her feel better? “You’re going to tell me something about yourself, and then I’m going to tell you something about myself. And we’re gonna go back and forth until you don’t feel like you need to run away.”

Robin closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds, trying to compose herself and control her breathing. Every time Gaius squeezed her hands she had to hold back a squeak. This was already too taxing for her – maybe Gaius was right… She would never admit it out loud to him, but maybe the thief was right. She’d seen Chrom _naked_ for Naga’s sake, and she’d practically excommunicated him. She taught Frederick her love for bear meat and avoided him like the plague afterwards. Anybody who she let into her personal bubble somehow ended up violently thrown out. Robin only hoped that after this, she wouldn’t ignore Gaius too. After all, he was the only one left.

“I’m afraid of spiders,” Robin croaked, opening her eyes to see Gaius grinning at her.

“Okay. I love candy.”

“That’s not fair, everybody knows that about you.”

“My game, my rules, Bubbles. Your turn.” Robin sighed.

“I love bear meat.”

“I’m a thief by trade.”

Robin silently hoped that he’d provide a window for her to open herself up to him. They’d never get anywhere with these superficial comments. She knew that he would never relent or give into her games – he was much better at this than she was. Every “secret” she would say, he countered with something even more mundane. Gaius knew it was frustrating her – and she hated that she knew exactly what he was doing.

So, Robin decided to take the risk.

“I’ve had horrible migraines and nightmares ever since we met with Validar in Plegia.”

“Validar hired me to assassinate Emmeryn. I bailed as soon as I found out.”

“Validar told me… I’m descended from the Grimleal.”

“I snuck into the royal treasury to smear Twinkles’ father’s reputation.”

“I’m scared.”

“I really want to kiss you right now.”

Robin flushed. The two of them had spoken in unison and she needed to pause to make sure she’d heard him correctly. Her gaze drifted towards the tent flap again and her hands twitched. Gaius didn’t miss any of this, perceptive fucker that he was, and he tugged on Robin’s hands. “Look at me, Bubbles. Not the door. Look at me.” Her heart was racing and she swore Gaius could hear it thumping in her chest. She swallowed hard and looked at the ginger thief sitting next to her. “I really, _really_ wanna kiss you, Bubbles.” His hands were on her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. It was silent in the tent while Gaius struggled with deciding whether he should just go for it or wait to see if Robin would run. Robin’s chest was heaving as she breathed heavily. His face was too close for comfort and Robin repeated, “I’m scared.” Gaius let out all the air he was holding in and let go of Robin’s face. As he turned to give Robin some space, she grabbed him by the arm. “But I really, _really_ want you to.”

Gaius’ lips came crashing down on hers with such a passionate force that it made her head reel. She shrugged off her coat, throwing it to the floor before tangling her fingers in his soft orange hair. He nipped at her bottom lip and she let out a moan, letting him slip his tongue in. Gaius let his hands roam around Robin’s body with reckless abandon and she stiffened every time his fingers grazed against bare skin. She tugged on his hair and Gaius released her mouth, leaving hot, wet kisses up and down the column of her neck. He quickly pulled her shirt up over her head, followed by his. Robin, suddenly taken over by embarrassment, covered herself with her arms. Gaius held her by the shoulders, continuing to kiss every exposed piece of skin, mumbling about how beautiful she was.

“You look better when you’re not covered in bruises asking me to rub a healing potion on you, as hot as that was,” he said, smirking into her shoulder. Robin dropped her arms, running her fingers along his chest. He gently pushed her back onto the bed, working the clasp on her brassiere and exposing her completely. “Gods…” Gaius’ mouth somehow found itself all over her body and Robin squirmed, writhing with pleasure. His fingers hooked themselves in her waistband, yanking her pants and smallclothes off in one quick motion. She felt his breath going lower and lower down her body and she covered her face with her hands when she felt his tongue sliding at the apex of her thighs.

“Gaius…”

“Are you still scared, Bubbles?” he asked, and she bucked her hips in his direction, mewling impatiently. “I’ll take that as a no,” he chuckled, sliding his tongue between her folds and relishing in the noises erupting from the tactician entirely at his mercy. Gaius licked away, sucking on her as if his life depended on it. Carefully, he slid a finger into her entrance and Robin squealed, squeezing her thighs against his head. The thief wrenched her legs apart, pushing harder against her until he felt her body quake beneath him and suddenly fall still. He wiped his mouth off and scooted up to lay next to her, tracing circles on her heaving breasts. “Sweeter than my favorite candy…”

Robin pulled Gaius back over her, kissing him feverishly and raking her hails down his back. She didn’t know where the found the courage to keep going, why she wasn’t getting dressed and pushing him off, but she wasn’t going to question it anymore. Gaius groaned, pressing his throbbing erection against Robin’s leg. She used her knees to pull his pants over his hips and Gaius wiggled out of them, kicking them to the end of the bed. His erection sprang out of his smallclothes when he pulled those down and Robin anchored her hands at the base of Gaius’s head, pulling him back for another round of kissing. Her head was so clouded that she didn’t even realize he’d sheathed himself inside of her, thrusting wildly. It was sloppy and sticky, but Robin was on cloud nine between the feeling of his hips slamming into hers and the symphony of moans they were emitting.

Gaius finished with a few more quick thrusts and a deep moan, biting into her neck and leaving a dark bruise. He pulled himself out of Robin, quieting her whimpers with a kiss. She curled up against his naked body, clinging to him as if her life depended on it. Gaius stroked her hair, smiling softly. “You still wanna run, Bubbles?” he asked softly. When she didn’t answer, Gaius gently rolled her to the side, only to see her sound asleep. Feeling around for her blankets, the thief wrapped them around their bodies and encircled her in his arms. “G’night, Bubbles.”


	4. S Support

Everyone noticed that something was off about Robin – her unnaturally cheerful demeanor was a dead giveaway. She’d even been caught humming – _humming_ – while walking through the camp. “She’s probably sick, something’s not right,” Vaike laughed one night during dinner, as he watched Robin whistling while she spooned soup into her bowl. Chrom chewed on his roll, eyes following the tactician as she settled in a corner of the campsite, spooning soup into her mouth. It took only seconds for him to notice the ginger thief sneak over and drop some sweets into her lap before sitting a few feet away.

“Yeah, she’s probably sick,” he said, narrowing his eyes and looking back to Vaike. It wasn’t like Robin to keep secrets from him, but Chrom wouldn’t push. Nothing ever good came from pushing Robin – he learned that the hard way a few battles ago when he had yelled at her to come up with a plan mid-assault. The Shepherds cleaned up after dinner and Chrom wiped his mouth, heading in Robin’s direction.

“Hi Chrom! You ready to explore the ruins tomorrow?” she said cheerfully as Chrom approached. He nodded curtly and sat down beside her, scuffing his boots in the dirt.

“Of course I’m ready. I’m confident that you’ve come up with a plan to destroy the Risen up there. Is that why you’ve been so happy? You’re hiding an amazing battle strategy?” The corners of his mouth turned up slightly and Robin raised an eyebrow.

“Are you okay, Chrom? You’re acting kinda weird. Of course I’ve got a plan but these Risen shouldn’t be any different than the one’s we’ve battled before…” She got up and brushed the dirt off of her coat. “I’m going to turn in for the night – I’ve made sure Frederick is waking everyone up before sunrise to move out.” Chrom watched her walk away, utterly confused, and he thought he saw a flash of red hair ducking into her tent.

Robin was swept up into Gaius’ arms as he came into her tent, peppering her face with kisses. “Keeping us a secret is killing me, Bubbles,” he whined. “I can’t keep dropping candies into your lap every time I want to kiss you.” She pushed him off of her and onto the bed, clambering on top of him and straddling his hips.

“Don’t complain just because you’re giving away all your candy. I give you all the sugar you want anyway.”

* * *

 

The next morning, Gaius snuck out of Robin’s tent before anyone else woke up. Robin followed him out a few minutes later and saw Frederick coming out of his tent to rouse the Shepherds. He greeted Robin and was indifferent to Gaius, which Robin took as a sign that he did not suspect a thing. When everybody was ready, they packed camp and made for the ancient ruins.

Robin ran over the battle plans in her head: Maribelle would take the front with Sumia and Cordelia as all three were on flying mounts and could cover more ground. Cherche and Gerome would fly above the ruins to the far walls and Tharja, Miriel, Henry, and Ricken would choose a wyvern and follow. This left Robin, Chrom, and Gaius to follow behind Maribelle and company and pick off any stragglers. She explained this to everyone at the entrance to the ruins and the unneeded Shepherds went to set up a temporary shelter at the side of the mountain.

Everything had been going perfectly, up until Robin caught sight of ginger hair beneath a hood far from where Gaius was supposed to be. She shouted angrily in his direction, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand grab her by the upper arm. “Bubbles, I’m right here, why are you yelling?” Gaius had been standing behind her this whole time, covering her back from potential Risen just as she’d tasked him to do.

“Gaius? If you’re here, then…” Robin turned back to the hooded figure and pointed in their direction. Just as she did, the hood fell off and a child with a shocking mess of ginger hair beamed at them from across the icy canyon, waving furiously at them.

“Mama! Mother! Hi!” Robin paled as the child shouted at her. He had to be confused, or this was all some elaborate joke. However, she may have been fast, but Chrom was faster and he reached the young thief before Robin was able to. She silently cursed Gaius for having an aversion to horses and wyverns, because it had been Sumia who flew Chrom to the boy. She couldn’t hear the conversation, only noticing the cautious looks back and forth from the boy to herself. She was frozen to the spot and Gaius had to shake her to bring her back into reality.

“Bubbles, we’ve still got a couple Risen to take care of – Twinkles can’t hold off the big guy by herself.” Almost as if on cue, Maribelle and Cordelia had flown over to carry Gaius and Robin over to the Risen Chief. Robin jumped off the back of Cordelia’s mount and with Gaius at her heels, she kept one hand on her Levin Sword and was sending flashes of lightning with her other. Gaius landed the killing blow and retrieved Naga’s Tear from a crevice nearby. Robin kept her gaze trained on Gaius, afraid to turn around to see what this mysterious child had in store for her.

She heard footsteps coming from behind and stiffened. “You’ll have to deal with this sooner or later, Bubbles. Might as well just do it now.” Gaius urged her to turn around, and the young boy was running over with his arms outstretched. She kept her hands at her side as the child hugged her. He kept calling her _mother_ and the words were foreign to her ears. As they made their way out of the ruins, the child – who she found out was named Morgan – had explained his whole situation to her. She couldn’t help but be thrilled that she wasn’t the only field amnesiac in the bunch.

Morgan explained that his memories of everything except his mother had been wiped, and that he was positive she was his mother. He had been time traveling with her – somehow – and they had gotten separated. Robin needed a minute to process and sat down at the entrance to the ruins with Chrom by her side, while Gaius had taken Morgan to meet the rest of the Shepherds. It was then that she was hit with the realization that Morgan needed a father. And the only logical explanation for Morgan’s male parent was standing right beside him, ruffling his hair and popping a lollipop into his mouth. A quick wink at Robin had her fully aware that Gaius had come to the same conclusion she did mere seconds ago. There was no use hiding it anymore, and Robin turned to her commander.

“Chrom?”

“I know you must be very confused, Robin, but I was the same with Lucina. They grow on you. It’s just so strange – Lucina is the only one already born in this timeline, and none of the other mothers are pregnant. I can’t wait for all the children to actually be born.” He hadn’t even given Morgan’s lineage a thought when he flung his arm around Robin in a vain attempt to comfort her. “If Morgan’s anything like his mother, he’ll be a great asset to our team.”

“And if he’s anything like his father, we’ve got a troublemaker on our hands.” She hadn’t meant for that last thought to come out, and Chrom removed his arms, turning to look at her.

“I hadn’t thought about that… Does Morgan have a father you… remember?” She sighed and nodded her head in the direction of the two ginger thieves.

“Gaius and I… We’ve been… You know…” She turned a deep shade of red while she waited for Chrom to put the pieces together.

“Oh. _OH._ I see. Well…” Chrom stammered and stood up. “I guess congratulations are in order…”

“Chrom, please, don’t make a big deal out of –“

“GAIUS! Looks like we finally found the last future child! You must be a proud father!” Robin groaned loudly and balled her fists against her head as everyone collectively let out a loud “HUH?!”

* * *

 

It had been a couple weeks since they found Morgan. Robin had extensively trained with her young son, catching him up to the level of intensity that she and Frederick routinely trained the other children and the first generation of Shepherds.  She hadn’t made time to see Gaius privately, and any time he came to her at night, Robin would be out like a light. It also didn’t help that Morgan had moved into her tent rather than living with the other younger children. He wanted to spend as much time with his mother as possible after being separated for so long.

Finally, after days of being all but outright ignored, Gaius burst into the tent one day when Robin and Morgan were reading through her collection of tomes. “Come on, kid, I’m gonna teach you how to use that sword.” Morgan’s face lit up and he looked expectantly at Robin. She nodded and followed them out, watching Gaius and Morgan spar outside. Something stirred deep inside as she watched the pair of them fight. Morgan moved fluidly, mirroring his father move for move. She’d had Morgan in her life for almost a month and there was no memory of him coming up for her, just like how Morgan still couldn’t place Gaius as his father. She started to feel very warm about the idea of having a little family, albeit slightly dysfunctional.

It took Robin only a few seconds after that to realize why Morgan had appeared at this moment in time, and she dropped the book she had been holding, quickly getting up and taking off towards the woods. Gaius did not let this go unnoticed and asked Morgan to go find his friends, sheathing his sword and chasing after the tactician.

He finally caught up to her, holding on to a tree and shaking. Gaius wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, snuggling his face into the crook of her neck. “Bubbles. Bubbles. Calm down. Bubbles.” She wrenched out of his grasp and walked towards the creek nearby. She clenched and unclenched her fists, leaving little crescent moon nail marks in her palms. Gaius loped over to her, grabbing her by the arm and turning her around. “We have a kid, Bubbles. We have a kid, and I’ve been trying to give you your space to process this because I know what you’re like but gods damn it, Bubbles… Maybe we rushed into this. Maybe everything is happening a little too fast.” Robin’s eyes widened and she shrank back.

“You want out? You don’t want this… family?” she asked quietly and Gaius tightened his grip on her arm.

“What? No! Of course not Bubbles. I love you. And Morgan’s a great kid. I’m just saying… fuck… how do I say this?” Gaius rubbed his forehead with his free hand. “Why don’t we just take this slow, y’know? Start from the beginning. You walk in on me in the bath, I woo you with some shiny baubles and charming wit, we go on a few dates… That kinda thing.” Robin flushed. _Really laying it on thick with that bath comment, Gaius._ She nodded slowly and reached for him with her free hand.

“I’d… I’d like that, Gaius.”

“So, Bubbles –“

“Do you even _know_ my name?” she laughed.

“ _So, Robin_ ,” he began again, emphasizing her name. “Would you go on a date with me?”

Robin smiled and pulled him close, kissing the pulse point on his neck.

“I think I might be pregnant.”

_Robin and Gaius achieved support level S._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be another chapter, an "A+ Support" of sorts :)


	5. Finale

A few months after finding her already grown son, Robin finally gave birth to him. It was a quick ordeal, albeit a painful and messy one. Gaius, though initially squeamish at the idea, stood by the whole time while Libra and Lissa helped Robin deliver. Lissa cleaned off the baby and handed him to Robin, who pressed the child to her chest. Gaius leaned over and sat on the bed, putting his arm around her and pressing his lips to her temple. “Ya did good, Bubbles. Real good.”

“Gaius?” The thief looked down at her, running his thumb over the baby’s head. “Do you think it would disrupt something in the universe if we named this baby something else? We already have a Morgan.” Robin looked in the direction of the door, where Morgan had been trying to peek in. She motioned for him to come inside, and he rushed in.

“So this is what I looked like… Mother, look how pink I am!” Morgan gasped. He sat down on Robin’s other side and peeked over her shoulder at his younger, newborn self. Robin smiled weakly. She was tired and ready to go to sleep after what she had just been through. Gaius held his hands out.

“I’ll take him, Bubbles. Lemme hold the kid.”

She passed the infant to Gaius, resting her head on the pillows behind her. Robin couldn’t be happier – she had one son next to her, watching the baby, and the father of her child… children?... holding their bundle of joy and crooning softly to him on her other side. Libra and Lissa excused themselves quietly and left. Robin was glad that there seemed to be a break in the fighting and that she could take a break with Gaius and her children to rest.

Some of the other women in their merry band had gotten pregnant shortly after she had, and they all deserved to slow down for a while before they themselves overworked themselves and forced themselves into labor. The men had been doing most of the fighting and lifting, which they didn’t seem to mind because they were just happy they were having kids. They were entirely too far to send baby Morgan back to the royal nursery to stay with Lucina, but Robin and Gaius had already decided they would make sure their son was out of harm’s way.

Morgan was a quiet newborn, so quiet that Robin wondered how he had grown into such a chatty, curious teenager. Almost as if on cue, the baby started to wail and Gaius handed him over to Robin. “Hey, Morgan, how about you go check on Blue? Let them all know you’re finally born, eh?” he said to the older version of his sun, ruffling his matching orange hair. Morgan nodded and rushed out and Robin pulled up her shirt to let the baby feed. “I guess those are off limit to me for a while, huh Bubbles?” he laughed and she shot him a look. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He put his arm back around her and watched the baby kneading his small hands against Robin’s breast. “We made a real cute kid, Bubbles… Looks just like you.”

She smirked, looking up at him. “The hair is definitely your fault.”

* * *

 

“Are you ready, Robin?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be, Chrom. Let’s end this.”

Robin’s life flashed before her eyes as the dragon reared its head and roared. At least what she could remember did – everything from lying in the field to this moment on Grima’s back. All she could think about was her child screaming from the rear, held back by Lucina who in turn was shrieking for her father to step back. Robin and Chrom had fought their way to the front, where an eerie clone of Robin stood at the base of the Fell Dragon’s neck.

When Robin found out from Naga that she would have to kill Grima, and in turn herself, to destroy the threat once and for all, she did not realize what kind of sacrifice this would be. She was ready to put her life on the line to destroy Grima and ensure a future for Morgan and the Shepherds and their children. Grima had penetrated her mind one too many times during this battle, and it was the cry of her son amidst all the others that had brought her back. She wanted to keep going, she wanted Chrom to destroy the beast so she and her son could grow together. So maybe she and Gaius could finally get hitched once this was all over.

“Robin!”

Chrom’s voice brought her out of her thoughts. “Robin, what are we going to do? You need to make a choice.”

Grima stood by laughing as Chrom readied his sword to deflect any oncoming attacks. Robin froze, her skin paled as she looked at the hierophant who was in fact her from another time. She dropped her sword, turned on her heel, and ran back through the ranks, searching for her ginger-haired lover who had hidden in the back to avoid seeing the decision she had to make.

“Bubbles?” he asked as she threw herself into his arms, sobbing into his neck and leaving tear-stained kisses up and down his face. He let his sword clatter to the dragonscale beneath their feet and held her tightly, pressing her as close as he could to his body. “Bubbles, don’t worry about us… Do what’ya gotta do. You always make the right choice.” Robin clutched his cape in her hands, pulling him in to kiss him on the lips for what she hoped was not going to be the last time.

“The best choice I ever made was loving you, Gaius.”

The thief began to tear up and he let go of her, putting his hands on her shoulders and making space between them. She looked up at him, tears streaking through the dirt and grime on her face, before pulling away and running back, lifting up her sword and running at Grima. Chrom stood behind her, stunned at the pure rage emanating from the two Robins fighting. He could barely hear what his Robin was screaming, but he made out names. Names of the Shepherds that she had been taken in by. The name of her son. His name. Gaius’ name. And with a final yell, she thrust the sword through Grima’s stomach.

With a deafening cry, the dragon fell to the ground. The Shepherds held on for dear life and clung to each other to make sure they were not separated. When the dust settled, Gaius looked up and saw Robin standing over Grima with her sword sticking out of the body before her. She dropped to her knees and Gaius bolted, pushing everybody out of his way, including Chrom, to reach her. Just when he managed to reach out and touch her, she fell to the ground and her body began to disappear. Gaius shuffled his hands around, trying to grasp some piece of Robin before she disappeared. Morgan, too, had broken out of Lucina’s grasp and ran over, crying for the mother he had just been reunited with not long ago. His son wailed and slammed his fists into the ground as Gaius wept bitterly, hiding his face.

“Gaius…” Chrom said, appearing out of nowhere behind him.

“I don’t wanna hear it, Blue. Come on kid, let’s get the hell out of here.” He wiped his eyes on the backs of his gloves and patted Morgan on the shoulder. “Let’s pick up your baby self and ditch this terrible place.” He adjusted his cape and grabbed Morgan by the hand. Morgan continued to cry as his father led him away, disappearing into the horizon as the rest of the Shepherds watched in silence.

“Did he miss the part where Naga said Robin could come back? Something about strong bonds?” Stahl piped up from the back, bringing the rest of the Shepherds towards where their beloved tactician had fallen.

“She saved us all. She’ll be back. I know it.” Everyone was surprised when Lucina chimed in with her steady confidence. Her parents held her as the Shepherds all checked each other for wounds and whispered prayers to Naga. Chrom sighed and said, “We will keep waiting. We will keep waiting until Robin comes back to us, even if it takes our whole lives.”

* * *

 

Gaius hated the pity that came with being involved with Robin. The Shepherds would tiptoe around him, avoiding his gaze and whispering whenever he came around. He didn’t care when it came to him – he was more worried about Morgan. The poor kid couldn’t even spend time with his friends because they all thought he needed to keep grieving when all Gaius wanted was to see his son smile again. It was hard enough being a single father, but he had a teenager and an infant to care for now.

He resisted help from Lissa and Sumia, insisting that he could do this himself. Against his wishes, Frederick had built him and the children a home on the palace grounds in Ylisse, and Gaius couldn’t say no. He couldn’t keep living the way he used to, on the road, sneaking into abandoned barns and not abandoned barns. He had _kids_ now. The baby was almost five months old at this point, a quick learner who was already crawling around.

The worst thing about this whole arrangement was that Chrom had ordered a statue of Robin be erected in the courtyard. Every time Gaius woke up – which had become a chore at this point – he was greeted with the sight of his love outside and his heart jumped a little before realizing she was made of granite. Months had passed and Chrom returned from the fated field every day with nobody but the living Shepherds in tow. Gaius shooed older Morgan outside – at least the kid seemed to be coping well – and he picked up the baby and walked over to the statue as he did daily.

Gaius knelt by the statue, running his finger across the inscriptions on the bronze plate affixed to the front: Robin, Destroyer of Grima, “We’re not pawns of some scripted fate.” Gaius grimaced. He was there when Robin had told Chrom that exact phrase. She continued to talk about invisible ties that bound them all together. Gaius felt the tears welling up in his eyes and he blinked them away, setting the baby down on the ground and sitting back on his heels.

“Dammit, Bubbles…” he started to say. “I really fucking miss you, Bubbles. And you aren’t even here, and I don’t know if you can hear me wherever you are… if you even still _are_. Morgan misses you a lot. Both of them. Big Morgan tries to put on a happy face for me, but I know the kid’s heart is breaking to see all the other happy kids and their parents. He was a fuckin’ wreck for weeks, Robin. And I know you’d yell at me for cussin’ in front of the kid but you know as well as I that the first word out of his mouth will probably be a swear and you’ll think it’s the funniest thing in the world.

I don’t know how to take care of a kid, Bubbles. I didn’t exactly have the best role models growing up. Not that you really remember yours, but we were a good team, Bubbles. We made it work. I don’t know how much longer I can do this on my own. He’s gonna start walking and talking and I don’t want to ask anyone for help because they’re all busy with their own kids but fuckin’ hell, Bubbles… Why’d you have to get me so involved and then fuck off?

I know, I know, you saved the world. You saved the future from this nasty dragon coming back to life. But why won’t you come back? You just left me with these kids and no idea how to care for them. Why aren’t you back? Huh, Bubbles? Or were these ‘invisible ties’ just a load of Pegasus dung? Naga said if the bond was strong you would come back. It’s been months. We have a kid. _Two_ kids. I loved you so much, Bubbles, so why won’t you come back to me?”

Gaius didn’t notice the fat tears rolling down his face as he dug his fingers into the dirt beside him. Baby Morgan squealed loudly and Gaius scooped up the baby, pressing his forehead to Morgan’s and kissing him on the nose. “Come on, kid, maybe tomorrow we’ll have some better luck.” As he stood up and turned to leave, a familiar voice sent chills up his spine.

“It wasn’t just a load of Pegasus dung…”

Gaius whirled around to see his lost love standing a couple yards away. She stared at him sheepishly but was too scared to move. Gaius closed the distance between them with a few long strides and gathered her up in his arms, squeezing baby Morgan between them. Morgan shrieked happily at the sight of his mother and he pulled on her hair as she clung to him and Gaius with all her strength. “Thank the gods, Bubbles. I was starting to worry that I didn’t love you enough to bring you back.”

Robin laughed – a sound that Gaius had almost forgotten – and pulled away, taking the baby into her arms. “How much of my little ramble did ya hear, Bubbles?” Gaius asked, running his hands from her shoulders to her elbows. She raised an eyebrow and smirked at him, which he knew meant that she heard all of it and was just waiting for the right time to pop up. “I missed you so much. And not just in bed. You were just so permanent in my life and I’ve never had anything like this before… To have that ripped away from me…” She shushed him and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

“I’m back now, and I’m here to stay, Gaius.”

The other Shepherds had started to appear, wondering what all the bustling was about near the statue. Lissa’s gasp was the loudest when she started to run over but Chrom grabbed her by the back of her dress. “Leave them be. We will have our time for reunion after them.” They stood not too far off, watching the happy couple reunite, but someone was missing.

Older Morgan had noticed the crowd start to form and left his sparring partner to go check it out. When he saw his mother standing with his father, he rushed past everyone, barreling through the crowd to reach her. “Mother! Mother, you’re back! Mother!” She opened her free arm to gather her other son up in her arms and broke down sobbing, kissing him on the forehead. “I thought you were gone forever, mama. I thought me and father would have to figure out how to take care of babies. Diapers are _horrible_.” Robin laughed through her tears, choking back a sob. She let Morgan hold the baby as she finally embraced Gaius with all the strength she could muster. He whirled her around and put her back down on the ground, dropping to one knee and pulling a small sachet out of his pocket.

“Bubbles. Robin. I’ve been holding onto this, hoping that you’d come back some day. And today is that day.” She froze as Gaius spoke, holding her hand in between them. “You told me that loving me was the best choice you ever made, and loving you has been a constant adventure. Robin, will you _finally_ marry me?”

Robin couldn’t even speak. She swallowed hard and nodded, tears brimming in her eyes as she stretched out her fingers for him to slip an iron ring onto her finger. “It’s not anything expensive or flashy, but I know you don’t like that kinda stuff…” he muttered.

“I love it…” she whispered, and he shot up, grabbing her around the waist and kissing her hard on the mouth. “And I love you,” she muttered against his lips.

“Don’t ever leave me again,” Gaius said as the Shepherds around them cheered.

“Never in a thousand years.”


End file.
